THE INFLUENCE OF JIHAD ON THE PLEBISCITE OF NORTHERN CAMEROONS, 1945-1961

Abstract

This article examines the Influence of Jihad during the plebiscite, which was sponsored by the United Nations, under the British mandate for the part of the Northern section of the former British-Cameroons, otherwise known as the former United Nations trust territory. It was once a catalogue of slaves for the Fulani and the Kanuri rulers of the trust territory, perhaps, except for the Kanuri Empire of the Dikwa emirate. Similarly, it was a German Protectorate; later transformed into a League of Nations mandate; furthermore, hitherto metamorphosed, turned out to be a United Nations trust territory, before it was finally unified with Northern Nigeria and part of the Federation of Nigeria in 1961. This paper finds that the influence of 19th-century Jihad had a very serious repercussion on the unification process, without which it would have been rather difficult in a region where most of the people remained non-Muslims. Undoubtedly, before the plebiscite, almost all the rulers of the territory accepted Islam and continued to spread their new faith, the result of which forced the minority ethnic extraction to escape the jihad for fear of being involved in the jihad, or both, thereby restricting themselves to the mountain-top. This research relies on both primary and secondary resources; the primary sources include documents, files, annual reports, archival materials, and interviews. While the secondary sources are books, chapters in books, thesis /dissertations, Articles, conference papers, and internet materials.